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I am a Music Freak, my blog posts will start with autobiographical posts, please read the 1st 3 blog posts,to know me, before proceeding to others. Thank You

Sunday, September 13, 2015

VenuG Presents: How to travel when in Kolkata? Yellow Amby, Uber or Ola?

Radhika Nanda tweeted a Gustavo Petrol quote this morning, which goes like this

" A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars, it's place where rich use public transportation"

Two days back, A Facebook friend Jeanne Kennedy Nanda, who is at Eton, but has studied at Frank Anthony Public School, where her late Dad taught, posted a picture of Delhi-Gurgaon(it could be Delhi-Faridabad DND flyover as well)

Traffic Jam & Huge number of private cars on the road.

To which I replied thus

Me: Are you in Delhi Jeanne?

Jeanne: No VenuG whenever I am in Delhi, I shall meet you for sure

Me:

Jeanne I refuse to buy a Car.

Though I can

afford an SUV/Sedan 😀

A) There's no

space to park in my official quarters.

B) No

parking space anywhere.

C) Suppose I go

shopping with Shree, I need to keep driving while

Shree shops. Or go to Malls where parking is 30

bucks an hour & the prices of commodities are

higher.

D) I reduce pollution.

E) Avoid traffic

jams.

F) I myself drive a motorbike & slide past

traffic in a jiffy.

G) During busy traffic days leave

my bike at home. Take an auto to nearest metro

station Jatin Das Park, get down & Central Metro

& Walk or take a tram(luckily Kolkata has one)

Tricks of trade.

H) The only time I take a Cab is

when I go out with Shree!!!

I) For example, when I last visited Jaipur , I

had a busy work day, and I had to come back home from work, which is 7 Kilometres, little distance at other places but tough for Kolkata(Dalhousie to Ballygunge through Metro channel known for its political rally traffic snarls & pack my luggage & only then go to Airport to catch my 20:40 Indigo flight(who are so punctual that they call it "Indigo Standard Time" I was late to start from office due to a last minute meeting & relieving party to a colleague who received sudden transfer order & relief instruction. As I am the branch head I had to be present. I took a Cab home thikthinking that there was enough time called my wife to pack couple of dresses.

There was a rally linked traffic jam. I got down from my Cab, ignored taking a bus, I took a metro to Dumdum , then an auto, and then paid a private taxi Rs100 from Outside airport to Departure Terminal of Netaji Subhash Airport Domestic Terminal.

I reached the Airport in 35 minutes & had still 30 minutes spare time to check in. Normally at peak hours it takes 2 hours to Airport from my office.

Had I been snobbish & impractical I'd have missed the flight for sure.

bought luggage & clothes from Jaipur at

Rs5000(saved 800 Cab fare & 6000 flight. Even

David Cameron takes a tube. These ego's are

useless. One has to be pragmatic.

Modes of Transport In Kolkata

A) From Airport Cab only if neccesary (with new 110 Rupee parking fee)

Come out to main road a kilometre (travel light with a strolley bag or a backpack)

Take a bus.

B) From Howrah/Sealdah Railway Station.

Howrah come out cross the road take a Ferry across to Babughat from 8-8 Monday to Saturday 2-8 on Sunday.